How To Install VMware Workstation Player in Windows

VMware is the real leader in the virtualization technology. They have many products that provide a number of great features. Some of the virtualization features are only found in the VMware virtualization products. VMware Workstation Player is a desktop application that allows you to you create, configure, and run multiple virtual machines on a single system. In addition, it also allows you to download and run virtual appliances (pre-configured applications). The computer on which you install VMware Workstation Player is referred as the host system and its operating system is referred as the host operating system.

The IT trainers, students, and others learning candidates are always looking forward to setup their own lab to perform hands-on lab exercises. As we all know, arranging the physical devices is not possible for everyone. VMware Workstation Player or formally known as VMware Player might be one of the best choices for them. However, there are other virtualization platforms such as VirtulBox and Virtual PC are also available to setup the virtual lab infrastructure. VirtualBox is the second most popular virtualization platform. The main reason behind the popularity of VirtualBox is its nature of freeware.

Full Virtualization vs Para-Virtualization

The virtualization platform can be divided into two major categories: Full virtualization (VMware ESXi, Hyper-V) and Para-virtualization (VirtualBox, VMware Player). We will cover detailed info about both of them in a separate post. In this post, we will focus on how to Download and Install VMware Workstation Player. At the time of writing this post, the latest version of VMware Workstation is VMware Workstation Player 12.

Prerequisites to Install VMware Workstation Player

In order to install and run VMware Workstation Player, the host system must meet the following hardware requirements:

Processor: One of the most important components for the virtualization platform is Processor. If your processor does not have sufficient speed, having a RAM of multiple GBs is useless. VMware Workstation Player requires 64-bit x86 CPU with the minimum of 1.3 GHz or faster speed.

RAM: The second most important component for the virtualization platform is the physical memory (RAM). In nowadays, the operating systems and other applications require the higher amount of RAM. So, the host which has more amount of RAM are more likely allow to use multiple VMs and provide faster virtual machine performance. VMware Workstation Player requires at least 1 GB of RAM on the host machine. However, 2 GB or more of RAM is recommended.

Others: The other requirements are not so important as Processor and RAM, but they have their own capabilities that affect the virtual machine’s features and performance. These includes Network Adapter and Disk Space.

Now, you know what components you need to install VMware Workstation Player. Next, proceed to download the VMware Player installer file. You can obtain the installer file from the VMware’s official Website.

Ok, it’s enough to tell a long story to you, we don’t have any intent to irritate you. So, let’s begin the real task “Download and Install VMware Workstation Player“.

Downloading VMware Workstation Player

To download VMware Workstation Player, you need to perform the following steps:

Visit the official VMware Website and create an account (or use an existing one) to register for VMware products. Log in with this account.

In the VMware Download Center, find the VMware Workstation Player (Free) tool.

Note: VMware Workstation Player is free, but the free version can oly be used for the non-commercial use.

Before to download VMware Workstation Player, you also need to select the platform (either Windows or Linux) and architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) for which you want to download this tool.

Installing VMware Workstation Player

Once the Workstation Player installer file is downloaded, double-click the installer file to start the installation process. The installation process is pretty straightforward and does not require too much of technical knowledge. Simply, follow the on-screen instructions and complete the installation. You may also need to reboot your host machine.

Using VMware Workstation Player

In order to open the VMware Workstation Player console, just type vmware in the Run dialog box and press Enter.

On the welcome dialog box, either enter the license key for the commercial use or select the Use VMware Workstation 12 Player for free for non-commercial use radio button for the non-commercial use. You may be asked to enter your registered email ID. The VMware Workstation 12 Player console will display.

Now, you are ready to create virtual machines and the virtual lab infrastructure using the VMware platform. The following posts help you to create a new virtual machine and to enhance your knowledge about this product.

That’s all you need to download and install VMware Workstation Player. Please provide your valuable feedback and suggestions to enhance the quality of content. We welcome you to add additional information that you think we have missed.